Universal Materials Incubator
Venture capitalPre-Seed–Growth
Also known as ユニバーサル マテリアルズ インキュベーター株式会社
Investment thesis
UMI invests in the materials and chemicals sector guided by six core principles: targeting themes that could become new businesses for the industry a decade out rather than short-term trends or incremental improvements; being operated by materials and chemicals industry professionals rather than conventional VCs; providing hands-on operational support with clear exit scenarios; actively partnering startups with large corporations to share resources across R&D, mass production and marketing; forging broad cross-industry links between upstream materials producers and downstream demand; and treating all parties as equal partners. Its investment theme combines needs-driven thinking with unconventional ideas to commercialize breakthrough materials and chemical technologies, strengthening Japan's technological competitiveness.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
What they invest in
from 28 of 85 portfolio companiesNew Materials ×15Biotech ×11Cleantech ×10Deep Tech ×10Circular Economy ×7Advanced Manufacturing ×6AI & Machine Learning ×5Hardware ×5
HQs:Japan×19United States×6
Investments · 85 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2021 · 12020 · 12 dated
Allied Carbon Solutions develops and manufactures sophorolipids, a natural biosurfactant, with applications in livestock feed and emulsifiers, personal care yeast-fermentation extracts, and agricultural biostimulants.
AgTechBiotechCircular EconomyCleantechNew MaterialsNot stated, JP
山縣 洋介(代表取締役 (Representative Director))
Aromyx develops biosensor technology that replicates human olfactory receptors to measure and quantify odors and flavors for product development, quality control, and consumer targeting across food, beverage, sustainability, and health industries.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechMountain View, US
Mark Mendel(Director)Christopher J. Hanson(Executive Officer, Director)Josh Silverman(Executive Officer, Director)Kieran Furlong(Director)Jeffrey Y. Suto(Executive Officer)Keith Milne(Executive Officer)
Arzeda uses AI-driven computational protein design to create custom proteins and enzymes, then productizes and manufactures them for applications including sweeteners, home and personal care, advanced materials, and biologics.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechNew MaterialsSeattle, US
Alexandre Zanghellini(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Eric Althoff(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Jeff Klunzinger(Director)Bill Baum(Director)Andrew Ban(Executive Officer)Daniela Grabs(Executive Officer)
Advanced ManufacturingAgTechBrisbane, US
Jamie Bacher(Founder)inAdam Paul Arkin(Founder)in
BoardErkki Aaltonen(Director)
CellFiber develops cell mass-production technology for cell and gene therapy, including ZeitoTM Plus, a GMP/GCTP-compliant cell fiber manufacturing device designed for fiber culture that enables aseptic, closed seeding of fiber-encapsulated cells directly into culture bags.
BiotechHardwareMedical Devices
Citrine provides an AI platform for product development used across organizations, with expertise in materials discovery and advanced manufacturing optimization.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareNew MaterialsRedwood City, US
Greg Mulholland(Co-founder & CEO)inRahim Lakhani(Executive Officer)inBryce Meredig(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardScott Brady(Director)Mark Cupta(Director)Amar Hanspal(Director)
CONNEXX SYSTEMS is a Japanese startup developing energy-storage batteries and a networked storage system ("Power Net") that links distributed batteries and renewable sources like solar and wind into a unified energy network.
CleantechEnergyHardware
Goryo Chemical develops fluorescence-based technology to visualize diseases and support diagnosis and treatment.
BiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesNew MaterialsTokyo, JP
Green Earth Institute is a Japanese company operating a corporate office in Tokyo and a research center in Kisarazu, Chiba.
BiotechTokyo, JP
Green Culture develops and sells plant-based foods, handling everything from product development to distribution in-house.
ConsumerFoodTech
iMicrobes uses synthetic biology to develop cost-effective sustainable materials and replace conventional manufacturing processes.
BiotechCircular EconomyCleantechClimate TechHealthtechNew MaterialsSan Francisco, US
Derek Greenfield(Founder/CEO)Liz Clarke(Founder/CTO)inNoah Helman(Founder/CSO)in
iPEACE223 develops zeolite catalyst technology and plant designs to convert bioethanol-derived ethylene into bio-propylene and its derivatives, aiming for carbon-neutral chemical and fuel production.
CleantechClimate TechNew Materials
JEPLAN is a Japanese group focused on recycling and circular economy, working with domestic and international partners under the mission of "circulating all things." It aims to advance a circular economy through recycling technologies and operations across its business sites and factories.
Circular EconomyCleantechClimate TechNew MaterialsTokyo, JP
髙尾 正樹(代表取締役 執行役員社長 (President & CEO))
JITSUBO develops Molecular Hiving™, a peptide synthesis technology, and provides contract manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and technology licensing.
Advanced ManufacturingBiotechDeep TechHealthtechMedical DevicesYokohama, JP
Shuya Mizufune(President & CEO (代表取締役社長))Ichiro Shima(Director (取締役))Keitaro Iwaki(Chairman (取締役会長))Keisuke Bando(Director (取締役))
LiSTie develops LiSMIC, a high-purity lithium recovery technology using a specialized ion-conducting membrane (developed at Japan's QST) that selectively separates lithium from impurity-heavy sources such as brine, and is building container-sized recovery units.
Circular EconomyCleantechDeep TechRokkasho, Aomori, JP
Tsuyoshi Hoshino(代表取締役 (Representative Director / CEO))山地 正洋 (Masahiro Yamaji)(取締役 (Director))木場 祥介 (Shosuke Koba)(社外取締役 (Outside Director))
Numat develops metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and manufactures them at industrial scale through an integrated campus with ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management.
Advanced ManufacturingCleantechDeep TechNew MaterialsIllinois, US
Ben Hernandez(Founder and Chief Executive Officer)Dr. Omar Farha(Founder and Chief Scientific Officer)T. Jay Collins(Director)Bill Kroll(Director)Luka Erceg(Director)Jeff Klunzinger(Director)
PaMeLa develops compact, low-burden medical devices that use artificial intelligence to objectively measure and visualize pain, addressing the reliance on patients' subjective self-reporting.
AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthHealthtechMedical DevicesOsaka, JP
後藤 宏明(代表取締役 (Representative Director))
POLASTECH is a deep-tech company developing zeolite-based water-vapor adsorbent materials (AQSOA) and adsorption heat pumps (AHP) that convert low-temperature waste heat from data centers and industrial facilities into cooling energy, reducing electricity use and CO₂ emissions.
CleantechDeep TechNew MaterialsTokyo, JP
Hiroyuki Kakiuchi(代表取締役 (Representative Director / CEO))Yuya Watanabe(CFO)Daisuke Yanagawa(CSCO)
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesbitBiome · finsmes.com · May 27, 2026
Numat Technologies · trysignalbase.com · May 27, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Universal Materials Incubator invest at?
- Universal Materials Incubator invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth stages.
- What sectors does Universal Materials Incubator focus on?
- Universal Materials Incubator focuses on Deep Tech, New Materials, Sector Agnostic.
- Does Universal Materials Incubator lead rounds?
- Universal Materials Incubator typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.
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